He declares, "Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for reply." Of course, none of the crowd speaks up at this. Finally, he concludes by promising he will slaughter himself if his death should someday benefit Rome. This is an example of reverse psychology, because the citizens already think they would never kill him. Instead, they respond by shouting that Brutus himself should become emperor. Sensing that the multitude is in his grasp, he finally gives the stage to Mark Antony.
Antony knows that he has work to do to gain the crowd back, so he starts off with a catchy line that immediately grabs their attention: "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. . . ." Unlike Brutus, Antony sees no need to bring himself down to the common people's level, so he speaks in poetry through his whole speech. He seeks to obtain their respect in different ways. He also pleads for them to act reasonable in this whole affair, like Brutus, suggesting that to judge against him is unjust. Since they are already on Brutus" side, he plays to the crowd by referring to Brutus as "honorable" many times. Antony then proceeds to question if Caesar's generosity, like sharing his victory spoils with the people and his compassion to the poor, matches up with his death. Four times during the oration he states, "Brutus says he (Caesar) was ambitious; / And Brutus is an honorable man", then continues to prove that he wasn't ambitious at all. He points out the fact that he had also refused the crown three times, asking "was this ambition?" This points the finger directly at Brutus. Reverse psychology is his next tactic, as he states that the citizens aren't humble enough to honor Caesar, and that he himself would prefer to wrong Caesar than wrong "such honorable men" as Brutus by stirring a riot.
